As EU Ministers Meet, Migrants Rush To Beat Hungary's Border Crackdown

By Scott Neuman / NPR

Published September 14, 2015 at 4:53 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

A migrant child crosses the border from Serbia near Roszke, Hungary, on Monday as refugees sped through the Balkans by train, bus and taxi, racing to beat a border crackdown promised by Hungary's right-wing government.

A group of migrants wait for permission to enter a registration camp near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia, on Monday.

Migrants pass the police cordon and board a train heading to the border with Serbia, near the town of Gevgelija.

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Police attempt to maintain order as migrants try to leave the border crossing in Nickelsdorf, Austria.

German police officers check vehicles on the border between Austria and Germany near Salzburg, Austria.

People celebrate as they arrive at the the border between Serbia and Hungary near Roszke, southern Hungary.

Soldiers stand by the border between Hungary and Serbia.

Here are the latest developments in the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe:

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-- Refugees, mainly from Syria, raced by train, bus and taxi to beat Hungary's imposition of a border crackdown as Budapest's right-wing government said that beginning Tuesday it would arrest anyone caught trying to sneak across its southern border with Serbia. Hungarian soldiers were erecting a razor-wire fence to enforce the order.

Reuters quotes Hungarian police as saying a record 5,809 people had entered from Serbia on Sunday and a further 5,353 by noon on Monday.

-- A meeting in Brussels among European Union interior ministers is aimed at hammering out a quota system for EU member nations to accept refugees, relieving some pressure on Germany, which has borne the brunt of the influx in recent weeks. The Guardian is running a live blog of the meeting.

-- Germany's vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, says that his county is bracing for 1 million refugees this year, 200,000 more than previously forecast by the Interior Ministry. Germany has stepped up checks of identification at border crossings.

-- Austria has announced that it will impose border controls, dispatching the armed forces to guard its eastern frontier after Germany instituted its own border controls.

"If Germany carries out border controls, Austria must put strengthened border controls in place," Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner told a joint news conference with Chancellor Werner Faymann. "We are doing that now."

-- Another 38 migrants, including 14 children, drowned when their overloaded boat capsized off the Greek island of Farmakonisi. The Greek coast guard rescued the others from the vessel carrying 112.